Potato-grading machine



Dec. 2, 1930. J. D. COX

POTATO GRADING MACHINE Filed May 4, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet l DecfZ, 1930.J. D. cox

POTATO GRADING MACHINE Filed May 4, 1926 2 SheetS -Sheet 2 rmea D... 2.19m I r 1,783,496

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This invention relates to agricultural ma} Referring now in detail tothe several chinery, and particularly to apparatus :Eor figures, thenumeral 1 represents a vehicle gathering potatoes or similar vegetables"as 'body supported by vehicle wheels 2 mounted they are discharged fromthedigger, auto- .upon an axle 3, at least one of said wheels .lmatically freeing them from v1 es trash. being fixed to the axle. Theaxle is placed 55 clods, dirt etc., grading them according to near aline passin throu h the center of size and depositing them roperly dedgravity of said y, the fitter being fairinto suitably arranged bas etsor ot or rely evenly balanced upon the axle, so that the ceptacles.elevation of either end may be accomplished l One of the objects of theinvention is the with but little expenditureof effort. Upprovision of adevice in which gravity is right members 4 and 5 are carried by theutilized for distributing'the potatoes along bod 1 at an intermediatepart thereof af-- the grading means. for ing support, on the one side,for a con- Another object of the invention is to proveyer 6 and on theother, for the diagonal 1 vide for adjusting the'incljnation of themembers 7 which support the outer end of v65 grading means according tothe slope ofthe the frame 8 carrying the grading rollers 9. land, inorder tosecure the proper efiect of The, conveyor includes up er andlower gravity in distributing the potatoes. shafts 10 and 10 about whichpasses an end- Still another object of the invention is to less belt 11formed of reticulated material v provide means for cutting ofi the flowof and transected by cleats 12 forming flights ader including a conveyoror flight receivchains 13 traversing sprockets on the shafts potatoeswithout stopping the mechanism, or pockets in which the potatoes areretained when it is desired to change baskets. and carried to the top ofthe conveyer. The

A further object of the invention is to ends of the cleats projectvbeyond the reticconstruct a combined pot'ato gatherer and ulatedmaterial, and are secured to endless mg potatoes from a gatherin rackand de- 10 and 10', by which means the endless belt livering them togradin ro the gatheris driven through power imparted to the ing. rackbeing supporte in yieldable resilshaft 10 by the sprocket 14: which ischain ient cradles so as to rise over obstructions on driven from thevehicle axle, the tractive the ground, andbeing pivot'ally mountedadforce of the wheel against the ground being 139 jacent the lower end 0the eonveyer in such relied upon for motive power. It is to be manner asto be in operative relation thereto understood of course, that a motoror other regardless of the rise and fall of the'gatherprime source ofpower may be used without ing rack. Q violating the spirit of theinvention.

Other objects of the invention will appear The potato gatherer andgrader is designed as the following descri tion of an illustrat to' bedrawn behind a potato digger, not

ingrembodiment thereo proceeds. shown, and for this (purpose means forapthe drawings plying draft is provi ed in the form of eyed Fig. 1 is aside elevation of my improved rods '15 and 16 pivotally secured to afixedpotato gatherer and grader. part of the apparatus. 93

Fig. 2 is a plan view; A gatherin rack 17 is provided adjacent Fig. 3 isa section taken along the line 33 the lower en of the conveyer, the puose of Fig. 1. of .which is to receive potatoes deliver to Fig. 4 is aplan view showing the arrangeit a from the digger. The rack includes a nment of the grading rollers. trough 18 having a barred grating at its Fi5 is an end view, in perspective show advanced edge upon which thepotatoes are in t e tail-gat'e mechanism. 7 first dumped by the digger,the clods falling %ig. 6 is a section through a portion of the betweenthe bars and the potatoes being retail-gate mechanism showing theholding tained, said potatoes rolling into the trough means.

The gathering rack is carried by spring cradles 19 and 20 which permitthe gathering rack to rise and fall with the inequalities of the groundover which the apparatus is drawn. The gathering rack is, however,pivotally mounted adjacent the lower end of the conveyer b means of theradius rods 21 so that regar less of its position of'elevation,

it is always within operative proximity to.

the conveyer. Rotary rakes 28 and 29 traverse the path of the potatoeson the conveyer in a transverse direction, for ridding the potatoes ofvines, roots or other stringy substances. The rakes are mounted on astub shaft 27, from a stub shaft 24 to which power is transmitted by asprocket 23 on the upper shaft 9 of the conveyer. The stub shaft 27 issupported by a bracket 30 emanating from a stationary casing 31surrounding the stub shaft 24 and carried by an upright member 25. Whilethe potatoes are en route upon the conveyer, the small particles of dirtwhich accompanies them shift through the reticulated abric of theconveyer so that the potatoes are clean when discharged into the hopper22.

The grading device to which the potatoes are delivered from the conveyercomprises the frame 8 carrying pairs of cooperating rollers 9 the sameconstituting the bottom of the hopper 22. The rollers are mounted onaxes arranged longitudinally of the vehicle and the rollers of a pairare reversely driven as shown in Fig. 4 by bevel gear sets 32 driventhrough a transverse shaft 83 having a sprocket 34: operativelyconnected to the vehicle axle.

In the illustrative embodiment of the invention there are two pairs ofgrading rollers although this number is by no means limitative. Therollers which are frusto-conical in form have their smaller endsdirected to Ward the rear of the apparatus and are spaced apart so as todefine between them a slot or passage-way of increasing width, as itapproaches the rear. The direction of rotation of the rollers of .a pairis preferably upward from the slot so that the potatoes are merelyagitated by the rotation of the rollers and not forced through the slot.The rollers 9 normally inclined downwardly toward the rear so that thelarger potatoes travel longitudinally of the rollers during theiragitation the smallest of the potatoes dropping through the passages 35adjacent the upper ends of the rollers where said passages arenarrowest, potatoes of a slightly larger size dropping through saidpassages toward the rear, while the largest sized potatoes do not dropthrough the passages at all but gravitate to the lower ends of therollers, falling over the end member 49 of the frame which is suitablyrecessed for this purpose. Since the direction of rotation of theproximate rollers of the adjacent pairs is such that it would forciblysqueeze the potatoes through said rollers, mashing them, the guard 37 isplaced above the space between said rollers to exclude the potatoes.

A sloping floor 38 preferably formed of spaced bars 36 is providedbeneath the grading rollers, opening to one side of the mach1ne. Thisfloor is provided with vertlcal partitions 39 and 40 forming chutes bymeans of which the potatoes falling through between the rollers aresegregated into several grades which may be collected in basketssuitably placed at the mouths of the chutes. A shelf 41 is provideduponwhich the baskets may rest. The largest potatoes, that is to say,those which overflow the ends of the rollers are caught in basketsplaced upon the shelf 42. The post 43 is intended to carry extra basketsas is indicated in Fig. 1.

It is frequently necessary to operate the apparatus upon a hillside, theslope of which may alter the inclination of the grading rollers to suchan extent that the potatoes are fed along either too fast or too slow.It may also happen that vegetables of a more rotund shape than potatoesare being graded, which will travel along the rollers faster thanpotatoes. In either event, it is desirable to have means for adjustingthe inclination of the rollers to the most advantageous position. Thisis done, according to the present invention, by tilting the body of themachine, the following instrumentalities being employed. An arm 44 isswingably mounted upon the axle, extending rearwardly and carrying aground-engaging roller 45. Between said and the floor of the grader acam 46 is suitably supported, the same being rotatable about ahorizontal axis in order to increase or decrease the space between saidarm and body of the apparatus, thereby tilting the latter and soadjusting the inclination of the rollers. The cam is controlled by alever 47 cooperating with a toothed segment 48.

The space between the rollers of each pair may be varied in width byadjusting the outer rollers to 'or from the inner rollers. Provision forthis adjustment is made by journalling the ends of said outer rollers inblocks which are slidable laterally along the end 1.

member 49 of the frame. The blocks are secured in adjusted position bysuitable means such as threaded studs 50 fixed to the end frame member49 and passing through slots in the blocks. against the blocks andafford means for retaining the adjustment. The end frame member isslotted, as indicated at 52 in Fig. 5 to permit lateral shifting of therollers.

In general, the adjustment is so determined as to let the culls andsmaller sized potatoes slip through into the appropriate chutes, whilethe bulk of the potatoes overflow the ends of the rollers. Itconsequently becomes necessary to change the end baskets quite fre- Nutson said studs bear quently. Means are therefore provided to cut off theflow of potatoes over the end frame 'member, when desired, consisting oftail gates 53 and 54 pivotally mounted on a vertical member 55,centrally arranged, and adapted to be held in normal inoperativeposition against said upright by the springprojected bolt 56 operatingin apertures 57 in the tail gates. When the end baskets are to bechanged, the bolt 56 is withdrawn permitting the tail gates to belowered. Should it be desired to fill but one end basket at a time,either of the tail gates may be selectively lowered.

While I have in the above description dis closed what I believe to be apreferred and practical embodiment of my invention, it is to beunderstood that the specific details described are not limitative intheir effect upon the invention, but merely illustrative, except in sofar as they are expressly prescribed by the terms of the appendedclaims.

Having described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is

1. In a potato gathering and grading machine, a vehicle, cooperatingrollers carried longitudinally thereof having their axes in a planeinclined downwardly toward the rear of said vehicle of frusto-conicalformation to form intervening spaces between the rollers divergingtoward the discharge end of the rollers for passage of potatoes, meansfor variably adjusting the relative angularity of the axes of saidrollers to increase or decrease 5 the divergency of said passage, meansfor altering the inclination of their axes and means for cutting off atwill at selected points the flow of potatoes over the ends of saidrollers, said means including an upright support and tail gates both ofwhich are pivoted at their adjacent ends to said upright support.

2. In a potato gathering and grading machine, a vehicle, a hoppercarried thereby, a conveyer adapted to receive potatoes from a digger,and delivering them to the hopper, rollers at the bottom of said hopperarranged longitudinally of the vehicle and spaced apart to form apassage for potatoes, and means for tilting the vehicle to incline therollers, more or less, longitudinally.

3. In a potato gathering and grading machine, a vehicle, a hoppercarried thereby, a

conveyer adapted to receive potatoes from a digger and delivering themto the hopper, rollers at the bottom of-the hopper arrangedlongitudinally of the vehicle and normally inclined downwardly towardthe .rear, said rollers being spaced apart toward the rear to form apassage for potatoes, an auxiliary vehicle wheel, means swingablysupportin g said wheel beneath said vehicle and a cam between said Wheelcarrying means and the body of said vehicle for tilting the latter, al-

terin'g the degree of inclination of said rollers.

4. In a potato gathering and grading machine, comprising a vehicle, ahopper carried thereby, grading means operatively positioned withrespect to said hopper, and a conveyer for feeding potatoes to saidhopper; a rack, forming a receiving end for said conveyer, and pivotallysecured to said conveyer.

5. In a potato gathering and grading machine, comprising a vehicle, ahopper carried thereby, grading means operatively positioned withrespect to said hopper and a conveyer for feeding potatoes to saidhopper; a rack, forming a receivin end for said conveyer, said rackbeing plvotally secured to said conveyer, and springs forming cradles bywhich said rack is yieldably supported.

6. In a potato gathering and grading machine, a vehicle, a hoppercarried thereby, a frame beneath said hopper, downwardly inclined towardthe rear, pairs of rollers carried longitudinally by said frame, anupright member at the rear of said hopper, tailgates pivotally mountedand selectively operable to out off the flow of potatoes over the endsof said rollers on either side of said upright member, and means carriedby said upright member for holding said tail-gates in inoperativeposition.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

JAMES D. COX.

